Energy Department watchdog warns rushed loan approvals under Biden creates risk of fraud and abuse

As the Biden administration rushes to approve loans, the Department of Energy’s inspector general is warning that the effort “poses a significant risk of fraud, waste and abuse.” 

The Department of Energy Loan Programs Office (LPO), according to the inspector general’s report, administers $385 billion in funding for loans as a result of an “unprecedented volume of loan authority” provided by Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act. 

The LPO is administering the loans, according to the inspector general, without “ensuring a regulatory and contractually compliant and effective system to manage organizational conflicts of interest."

“The projects funded with this authority, which involve innovations in clean energy, advanced transportation, and tribal energy are inherently risky in part because these projects may have struggled to secure funding from traditional sources such as commercial banks and private equity investors,” the report also states. 

The Washington Free Beacon reports that in the last two months, the LPO has closed on seven loans worth $5.9 billion, two of which were approved after the election. In the previous 27 months, according to the Beacon, the LPO closed on five loans worth $6.5 billion. 

Earlier this month, Project Veritas released an undercover video of an EPA employee discussing a rushed effort to get as much funding out the door before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated. The video confirmed suspicions that agencies are spending as much money as possible before Trump can put the brakes on it.